The Avatar and The Elementals
by Namacub95
Summary: *spin off of my Harry Potter fanfic The Elementals* Alice, Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Keith and Shauna are thrown head first into the world of Avatar. Now they must form friendships, fight and struggle to find their way back home.
1. Lost and Found

**Chapter 1: Lost and Found**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me!**_

"Alice!" Keith hissed "Hurry up! I want to get to the kitchens _before_ Filtch finds us!"

Alice rolled her eyes at her brother as the two of them snuck through the dark corridors of Hogwarts castle. Elemental training had gone on late into the night and Keith began to complain half way through that he was starving. Alice, half out of annoyance and half because she was hungry too decided to accompany her brother to the school kitchens. Albus, Rose, Scorpius and Shauna stayed at the Room of Requirement and asked them to bring back some cakes or biscuits.

The twins slunk silently down the corridors keeping alert for any sign of Filtch or his cat. A door closed ahead and the twins flattened themselves against the wall. Alice bit her lip and held her breath as the sound of footsteps drew near.

"Walk away. Walk away. Walk away." Keith whisper-chanted. The footsteps grew closer still then there was a muffled explosion, a grumble and the footsteps hurried away from Keith and Alice's hiding place.

Keith and Alice both let out a sigh of relief and Keith brushed a hand through his short black hair. Alice brushed some of her dark brown bangs out of her eyes and something on the opposite wall caught her eye. She fumbled in her jeans pocket for her wand.

"Lumos." She whispered and approached the other wall.

There hanging on the wall like it had always been there was a painting, however unlike every other painting in Hogwarts Castle this one didn't move. In the foreground was a boy with pale skin, grey eyes and blue arrow tattoos. Beside him were a boy and a girl both had tan skin and eyes as blue as the ocean wearing outfits that were blue unlike the boy with the tattoos who was wearing clothes of yellow and orange. The boy had a ponytail and carried a boomerang while the girl had her hair in loops and a braid and carried what looked to be a pouch of some kind.

On the other side of them was another girl who looked about the same age as the boy with the arrow tattoos. She had black hair tied in a bun with a green hair band and long bangs that covered her eyes. Finally behind those four were two people; an elderly man and a teenage boy no older than herself with a large scar over his left eye.

Alice stared at the painting for a long while, she had passed by this spot so many times that she had lost count but she had never once seen this painting. She lowered her wand slightly and peered at the portrait as if it contained some great secret for her to decipher. She reached out to touch the painting to see if she wasn't just imagining its existence when

"Alice!" Keith hissed "We don't have all night to stare at paintings! C'mon before Filtch comes back!"

Alice dropped her hand with a scowl; trust Keith to think only of his stomach. Alice glared at him and then there was a loud bang causing both of them to jump. Keith looked away from Alice and Alice backed into the painting.

Before Alice could do or say anything the scene flew away as if she was being pulled through the wall by some invisible force. Colours and shapes flew by in dizzying blurs and she felt extremely nauseous. Sounds whirled around her, too fast for her to catch what they were. When it stopped, she was kneeling on a dirt path in bright sunlight.

It took Alice gave a dry retch and knelt on the ground for several seconds in shock. She sprung to her feet and glanced around her surroundings, she couldn't tell where she was but she definitely wasn't inside Hogwarts Castle.

She was standing in what seemed to be a forest of some kind; she had been kneeling on a dirt path. On either side of her trees, grass and bushes dominated the immediate landscape. Alice spun on her heel

_Where am I? _She thought. This place didn't resemble the Forbidden Forest, even on a bright summer's day the Forbidden Forest didn't look anything like the forest she was currently standing in.

"Hello!" she yelled hoping someone was nearby and could help her "Is there anyone there?"

Silence was what replied. Alice glanced around desperately for anything familiar that would tell her where she was or which way was Hogwarts. There was nothing familiar so she gave up and sat down under a nearby tree.

A thousand questions surfaced in her mind, where am I? How did I get here? How do I get back? Will I ever get back? Has Keith noticed I'm gone? Hot tears stung Alice's eyes but she refused them, she had more important things to do like finding her way home.

Pushing herself to her feet Alice resolved to walk to the nearest town, village or until she met someone who could point her home. With a small sigh she began walking down the dirt path.

Alice walked for what seemed like hours, when she started walking the sun had been high in the sky and now the sky was tinged with red and orange. Alice's feet ached and her stomach grumbled loudly but she continued walking. She hadn't met a single person on the path which soon turned into a road.

_One foot in front of the other_ Alice thought as the sky darkened. She walked into the night before she stumbled exhausted and starving into a small market town. She didn't have any money so she couldn't buy food or a bed for the night. She wandered out of town again to a small clump of trees simply sat down under a tree and fell asleep on the soft grass.

She woke again early the next morning, roused by the sounds of people setting up stalls and vendors selling their wares. Alice pushed herself into a sitting position and shook her head to wake herself up. Her clothes were covered in dust from the road, had large grass stains and her hair was a mess. She really couldn't care about her appearance at that moment; she was far too hungry to care.

She walked back into town again and noticed from the amount of odd stares she got that she stood out like a sore thumb. Most of the people dressed in greens, browns and light yellow tunics, trousers and dresses while she was wearing a pale pink t-shirt with jeans and white trainers which were covered in dust and grass stains. Alice decided that after she had gotten some food that she would need some new clothes to help her blend in.

She approached a stand which was selling some hot food and wondered how exactly she would pay for all this if she didn't have any money to buy it with.

"You aren't from around here are you?" the voice made Alice jump. The woman at the stall stared at Alice waiting for her to answer.

"No. I'm not." She replied somewhat sheepishly.

"Well are you going to buy something then? Or are you going to stand there and stare at the food? It isn't going to get up and leave you know." She said teasingly.

Alice frowned and shuffled uncomfortably under her stare as she waited for Alice to respond.

"No money." It was a declaration not a question.

"I'm sorry. I'll go-" Alice said moving away.

"Wait!" the woman called after her. Alice turned around to look at her "Look, I've needed someone to help me run this stall and you look like you need food, a bed and a fresh change of clothes. I believe we can help each other."

"You mean you'll give me a job?" Alice asked approaching the stall once more.

"Yes." The woman nodded "Food, clothes and a bed as well."

Alice didn't need to think for long on this. If she had a job she would have money, food and a bed she could also find out where exactly she was and how she could return to Hogwarts.

"I accept." Alice said with a shy smile. The woman beamed at her and motioned for her to come behind the stall.


	2. Familiar Faces

**Chapter 2: Familiar Faces**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me**_

Three weeks had passed since Alice had arrived in the small town Henan. She had by this point realized that she was in a completely different universe and it made the task of returning to Hogwarts infinitely more difficult. She was glad however that she had some money and a place to stay until she could find a way to return to Hogwarts. Mei, the woman who owned the food stall had been very kind to her; she allowed her to stay in her house and paid her good money to work at the food stall.

Alice often took walks through the town after dinner just so she could get her bearings. Henan was small market town only two hours walk from the great city of Omashu. Alice liked the little town, it was beautiful and peaceful.

Alice was taking her usual evening walk down to the town square, vendors were taking down their stalls and the sky was painted in shades of gold, orange and red.

Alice at this point had not been paying very much attention to where she was walking until she heard a squawk and she stopped just short of walking into an animal that looked like a peculiar cross between and ostrich and a horse. She reached out and patted the creature's beak.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Demanded a voice from behind her.

Alice spun around and it took all her strength not to gasp in fear. It was the boy from the painting, she knew immediately because of the huge scar that dominated most of the left side of his face. He glared at her and she stood staring at him in shock and fear then she turned and walked quickly away.

Alice's thoughts were running rampant as she ran back to Mei's house. Mei and her four year old daughter Amita were in the small kitchen and both looked up when Alice arrived through the door out of breath. Mei gave her a quizzical look and Alice explained that she was tired and that she was going to bed early. She walked slowly to her 'room' which she shared with Amita; her thoughts were still on the scarred teenager.

The smell of smoke invaded her dreams that night causing her to wake. She couldn't see anything but she could smell the smoke, something was burning. Fear welled inside of her; the house was wooden if there was a fire the house would be burnt to the ground with Mei, Amita and herself inside.

Alice pushed herself from the bed and scrambled under her bed for her bag. She had purchased the bag with some new clothes only a few days previously and now used it to keep her clothes and wand inside. She reached down into the bottom of her bag and pulled her wand out.

"Lumos Maxima." She whispered. Light flooded the room from her wand tip, she could see it now. Smoke was curling up in the room coming from a small gap under the door. Panic and fear was now coursing through Alice as she scrambled to her feet pulling the bag's strap over her shoulder. She rushed over to a sleeping Amita and shook her

"Amita! Amita! Wake up! Amita wake up!" she hissed. The girl yawned and tried to turn over but Alice shook her again "Amita! You really need to wake up!"

Amita finally awoke and Alice quickly rushed her out of bed and helped her get dressed. The girl was understandably confused as to why she was being awoken in the middle of the night. She hurried the young girl out of their small bedroom and were immediately met with a wall of flame blocking their path to the door. Amita gave a shriek of fear and buried her head into Alice's leg.

"Aguamenti!" Alice cried and a small jet of water burst from the end of her wand dousing the flames somewhat. Alice quickly scooped Amata into her arms and ran through the small gap she had created.

Amita whimpered softly into her chest as Alice dashed for the kitchen door. She flung it open and pounded outside and into the street. The whole street was on fire, the wooden houses were alight with their occupants yelling for water to put out the raging fires.

Alice scanned the crowd for Mei and panicked slightly when she couldn't spot her. She spun on her heel trying desperately to find her when she finally spotted her standing with a dazed look on her face. Amita immediately ran to her mother, Alice hung back slightly and quickly stuffed her wand back into her bag.

The fires raged until morning, Alice sat in the town square with the rest of the town's women and children. Her new Earth Kingdom clothes were badly torn and singed from her attempts to help put out the fires. Just before dawn she had cut her arm and it began to bleed heavily so she had to stop helping and wrapped it up in a small bandage. She also had various cuts and bruises on her legs and arms and her face with covered in a layer of soot and ash.

Mei and Amita lay sleeping beside Alice; she watched them for a little while before pulling out a small bag of money that she had saved. She originally intended to use it to find her way back to Hogwarts. In light of the current circumstances, Mei would need the money more than she would. So she tucked the small bag of money into Mei's small bundle of possessions, grabbed her own bag and slipped unnoticed out of town.

She knew, because Mei had told her, that Ba Sing Se was to the north east. Glancing around and seeing no one was around, Alice took out her wand.

"Point me." She whispered. The wand spun in the palm of her hand like a needle of a compass and finally settled pointing east. She quickly placed her wand back into her bag, under her clothes began to walk north east.

Alice walked slowly on the dusty road; she remembered she first arrived in the Earth Kingdom in a similar situation. She walked until the sun was high in the sky and by that point she had arrived at a river which cut its way through the dense forest.

Alice stopped by the bank, she felt truly exhausted although it had only been twenty minutes since she last rested. She felt light headed and slightly dizzy, it wasn't long before she fell into darkness.

The forest was still, nothing moved in the shadows and the only sound was the rushing of the river. Then the leaves rustled and small twigs snapped as a portly man with silver hair and a beard walked through the undergrowth top the river with a tin mug in his hand. He hummed a soft tune but abruptly stopped when he spied the unconscious girl. She was sprawled out on the soft grasses of the river bank, the contents of her bag which she had turned over when she fell was strewed out a few feet away from the bag.

The man rushed to her side dropping his little tin mug. He placed two fingers on her neck and let out a small breath of relief when he found the steady beat of her heart. His gold eyes darted to the bandage around her upper arm which was soaked through with blood.

It took him only a moment to decide what to do with the unconscious girl. He quickly gathered up the strange clothes that had fallen out of the bag. When he lifted the pale pink t-shirt he saw a small twig. A flicker of recognition passed over him as he picked it up and quickly put it in the bag with the clothes. The man scooped the girl into his arms; the girl was surprisingly light compared to what a normal teenage girl should be. He walked with the girl back into the shrubbery, the tin mug lay forgotten on the soft grass.

Alice awoke again a few hours later, she didn't know much apart from the fact that she ached. Her arm ached, her head ached and her chest ached almost every inch of her body was emitting pain. She struggled to sit up but as soon as she got her chest off the ground she was pushed gently down again.

"Don't try and get up." Came a deep gravelly voice. Alice's vision was slightly blurry but after a quick rub with the heel of her palm she saw who had spoken. They were inside a large stone cave and a few feet away sat an old man in front of a roaring campfire. The man smiled at her warmly and passed something to her. "Drink. It will help with the pain."

Alice took the small tin mug filled with warm liquid and took a small sip. She quickly spat it out gagging on the foul taste of the herbs and plants. She stared into the cup with a grimace

"W-What is that?" she asked.

"A special tea made up of herbs that work as excellent painkillers. I couldn't do much for the taste." He chuckled. "May I ask your name?"

"Alice." Alice replied taking a swift swig and swallowing it before she got the urge to spit it back out again.

"Alice." The old man replied with a smile "An unusual name."

"Not where I come from." Alice replied. The man nodded at this statement and the two lapsed into an easy silence while Alice hastily drank the rest of the herbal tea.

"Thank you very much." Alice said placing the cup on the stone floor "You really didn't need to do that sir."

"It was nothing." The man smiled "And you must call me Uncle not sir."

"Er…ok…Uncle." Alice smiled.

Uncle suddenly looked to the cave mouth, Alice tried to see what he was looking at but when she tried to sit up again she was pushed gently down once more.

"Uncle I've found us some-" A teenage boy walked into the cave with a small bag over one shoulder. Alice's eyes widened, it was the scarred boy from the town again. His eyes snapped to her

"You!" he growled.

**Next Chapter: Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Keith and Shauna discover Alice is missing and Shauna arrives in the Avatar world.**

**Reviews make me smile.**


	3. Warrior Girl

**Chapter 3: Warrior Girl**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me**_

Keith was panicking and Alice was nowhere to be found. The Room of Requirement was in chaos as everyone tried to make sense of the situation. Albus and Rose were arguing over whether they should look for Alice now or wait until morning, Scorpius sat trying to reassure Keith, who had his head in his hands. Shauna looked deep in thought

"I think we should wait until morning." Rose argued "She could have just gone to the Ravenclaw Common Room!"

"Or she could be in trouble!" Albus retorted "We should go now!"

"Will you two shut up!" Shauna roared. Albus and Rose immediately stopped arguing and all eyes turned to Shauna "I think we should go now. That way if she is in trouble we can find her and help her. If we don't find her then we'll wait until morning to see if she turns up at breakfast, alright?"

There was a mumble of agreement from the group before Shauna turned to Keith.

"Show us where you were when you noticed Alice was missing." Shauna said turning to look at Keith. Keith nodded and stood

"Yeah, sure." He said motioning for them to follow him. Keith led the group down the dark corridors stopping every so often when a noise was heard before continuing on. Finally they arrived

"Here?" Shauna asked, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Yes." Keith breathed "Last I looked she was staring at that painting on the wall."

Keith pointed to the painting on the opposite wall and the group turned to examine it.

"Oh my god! Look!" Rose whispered clamping her hand over her mouth and pointing at the painting with her other hand, her blue eyes were wide. Everyone gathered around and they're eyes widened. Standing in the back of the painting beside the old man and the scarred boy was Alice, dressed in a similar outfit to the scarred teenager.

"S-She's _inside_ the painting!" Scorpius whispered.

"Told you she wasn't in the Ravenclaw Common Room." Albus whispered to Rose.

"This isn't the time or place Albus." Rose replied uncovering her mouth.

Shauna shot an annoyed look at Albus and Rose before moving forward to the picture. She had never seen anything like this in her life. Rose stood beside her and bit her lip. Shauna then reached out to touch the painting and just as she did Rose grabbed her hand and then there was an explosion of bright lights.

Colours and noise whirred by and Shauna felt Rose's grip on her arm slip. Rose gave a shriek of fright as she was dragged in the opposite direction from Shauna. Before Shauna could react she was lying on her back in the woods. Before she could push herself to her feet she was being dragged to her feet and blindfolded.

Shauna struggled against her invisible captors even when she felt her wand removed from her hand.

_Miserable cowards_ Shauna thought.

"Let me go!" Shauna hissed "Show yourselves cowards!"

Her captors didn't respond to her insults or her threats about what she would do to them once she was free. They half dragged half walked her a short distance before tying her to something, a tree perhaps. The blindfold was removed and Shauna squinted against the sudden sunlight but her eyes quickly became accustomed to the light and in front of her stood the weirdest group she had ever seen.

They were all girls around her age possibly older, they wore green dresses with armour over the top. Their faces were painted white with red over their eyes and on their lips. In front stood what Shauna assumed must be the leader with cropped hair and a weird looking headdress or tiara on. Another girl walked over and handed her Shauna's wand.

"Hey!" Shauna yelled struggling against the rope that was keeping her bound to the tree "Give that back!"

"Why?" the leader asked inspecting her wand "It's just a twig. It's not going to be a very useful weapon."

"I can do things with that wand that you wouldn't believe." Shauna muttered "Now let me go!"

"Not until you tell us why you were snooping around our camp." The leader said.

"What camp?" Shauna asked incredulously "I only just got here! I don't even know where 'here' is!"

"Don't lie to us." The leader replied.

"I not." Shauna replied getting very annoyed with the girls "I don't have time for all this nonsense! Let. Me. Go!" Shauna struggled valiantly against her bonds until the leader spoke up.

"Are you a Fire Nation spy?"

"A what?" Shauna asked looking somewhere between confused and angry.

"Are you Fire Nation?" The leader asked.

"Am I what? Look! I have no idea what you're talking about! Now for the last time LET ME GO!" Shauna growled.

"I think she's telling the truth." One girl whispered to the leader.

"She doesn't look like she's Fire Nation. She could be Water Tribe. I mean doesn't everyone from the Water Tribe have blue eyes?" Another asked.

"No, I don't think so. Remember that guy from the Water Tribe? His skin was way darker and hair his hair was darker than her's too."

"Oh yeah, you're right. Maybe she's from another part of the Earth Kingdom."

"Are you going to stand there and chat all day or are you going to let me go?" Shauna asked, annoyance was clear in her voice. The leader turned and said something inaudible to the girl beside her who nodded and walked over to Shauna. She untied the ropes releasing the very annoyed Shauna.

"Now was that so hard?" she asked sarcastically then walked up to the leader "I want to know who you are." Shauna demanded.

"We're the Kyoshi Warriors." The leader replied "I'm Suki."

"Well Suki." Shauna said her hands on her hips "Where am I?"

"You're in the Earth Kingdom. The south to be precise."

"Right. Next question, have you seen another girl around here? She's about my height, red hair, blue eyes answers to the name of Rose." Shauna asked.

"No but we can look." Suki replied glancing behind her. Several girls ran off into the trees and she turned back to Shauna "You never told us your name."

"I tell you if you give me my wand back." Shauna said motioning to her wand which Suki still held. Suki handed Shauna back her wand and Shauna quickly put it in her jeans pocket.

"My name is Shauna."

**Next Chapter: We find out what happened to Rose. **


	4. The Rose of Ba Sing Se

**Chapter 4: The Rose Of Ba Sing Se**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me**_

Rose let out a shriek of fright as she was dragged in the opposite direction from Shauna. She disappeared from Rose's view and Rose was left alone. Before she knew it the colours disappeared and she was left sitting in the middle of a cobbled street. She quickly pushed herself to her feet and glanced around, some of the passersby were giving her strange looks and she quickly concluded that she needed new clothes until she could discover where she was and how to get home.

Her eyes travelled around the street, it looked like she was in the poorest area of this town. Her gut screamed at her to get away lest she be attacked, she stood out far too much. So before anyone could approach her, Rose disappeared down a back alley unaware she was being watched from above.

She moved down the back alleys as far away from the main street as she could get. She needed to find a way to blend into this strange new place, she knew she was in a different universe as she had never heard of anywhere like this city before.

Then Rose spotted a line of clothes hung out to dry. An idea sparked, it would be stealing but she needed desperately to blend in. So she used a pillar of rock to propel herself into the air and grabbed a green tunic with a strange symbol on the front in a lighter shade of green. Propelling herself up again she grabbed some brown trousers and a strip of brown leather. Satisfied with her choice she quickly ducked into the shadows and changed out of her clothes and hid them in a small alcove. She decided it would probably be best if she left her shoes and socks with the rest of her clothes, she had seen people walking around barefoot so she assumed it must be alright.

Stepping out into the street again she looked left then right, the street was still deserted so she quickly made her way back to the main street just as the sun began to set.

Several days passed and Rose was still in the city, she later learned that it was called Ba Sing Se. She managed to get along by stealing what she needed which almost got her caught several times, she only escaped by using subtle magic and her control over earth. She had slept rough in the small alcove she used to hide her clothes in. She decided that life in Ba Sing Se wasn't a pleasant one from what she had experienced.

It had been a week since Rose had arrived in Ba Sing Se and she could find no sign of Alice or Shauna. She was getting more desperate as time went by, she was sure she had searched the entire Lower Ring for her friends but she couldn't find any trace of them.

"Hey! You!" Rose cursed as she quickly stuffed the fruit she had just pilfered into the pocket of her tunic. She quickly darted down a back alley and to her horror straight into a Dai Li agent. Rose was quickly arrested and dragged away.

Rose was thrown into a prison made completely out of metal. Apparently they were under the impression that an 'earthbender' like herself wouldn't be able to escape. However Rose wasn't an earthbender, she didn't even know what an earthbender was but she assumed that the Dai Li were earthbenders as they had restrained her with rocks.

Rose paced her cell like a caged animal trying to decide how she could escape, she knew that what she did probably deserved this but that didn't mean she liked it. So using all her elemental ability she bent the metal of the door as if it were clay until the hinges gave way and it clattered to the ground. The coast was clear so Rose ran down the earthen corridors. Her escape did not go unnoticed for long and soon she had several Dai Li Agents chasing after her.

She kicked up rocks as she ran to protect herself from the rock gloves being aimed at her. She stomped her foot hard on the ground causing it to shake violently like there was an earthquake, however this didn't stop the Dai Li agents or even hinder them. The Dai Li were persistent and very good at detaining escapees so it seemed because as soon as Rose rounded a corner she found the way blocked by more Dai Li agents, seeing no way out she raised her hands in surrender and was quickly led back to a cell.

"That is her?"

The Head of the Dai Li could hardly believe the story he was told of a girl who bent metal and almost escaped prison. He demanded that he be taken to see this girl immediately as she had been transferred to a higher security prison usually reserved for traitors and assassins. She didn't look like a particularly dangerous criminal or a master earthbender but appearances could often be deceiving, he was a prime example.

She sat in her cell with her arms chained above her head and her eyes staring intently on the floor. Her curly fiery red hair was pulled up out of her face in a pony tail revealing bright blue eyes common of the Water Tribes. She didn't look like she belonged imprisoned beside those who had tried to assassinate the Earth King; she didn't look like she belonged in a prison at all.

"Yes. Long Feng, sir." The Dai Li agent replied "What should we do with her? She is particularly powerful; she badly injured two agents in her escape. I've never seen anything like it."

Long Feng considered for a moment, she would make a formidable Dai Li agent if circumstances were different. _Perhaps_, he thought _I can make use of this 'metalbender'_.

"Send her to Lake Laogai." Long Feng instructed his eyes not once leaving the girl "Have her memories erased and put her in with the other women."

"Of course, sir." The Dai Li agent responded.

The next thing Rose knew she was being unchained and led from her new cell. She was walked out of the prison and blindfolded before being shoved into what she assumed was a cart of some kind. The cart rattled along the road for a long while Rose sat wondering if they were transferring her again. The cart stopped and Rose was led out, still blindfolded and completely unsure of her whereabouts. Before she knew it the blindfold was removed and she got a glimpse of a glittering lake before she was pushed down a tunnel followed by the two Dai Li agents. She was led through a vast and underground base before being shoved through a door and it being locked behind her.

Instantly she was surrounded by other women, some were her age and some were older. They all had dark hair and green eyes, common traits she guessed as she was helped to her feet.

"Where am I?" she asked looking at the girl who had helped her up. She looked only a few years older than Rose herself, possibly in her early twenties.

"Under Lake Laogai." She replied "My name is Jia. What is yours?"

"Rose." Rose replied. Her eyes darted around the large cell used to keep the women in and wondered why she was here with them.

It could have been days later but the door to the cell was opened once again. Dai Li agents shepherded them to another room with a strange contraption in its centre. All of the women were stood in the middle of the ring and the glass with the candle began to spin around them. A Dai Li agent stood outside the circle and said slowly

"My name is Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."

Rose opened her mouth as if it were controlled by someone other than herself. Fog started to cloud her mind, obscuring thoughts and memories from her mind and leaving only the words.

_My name is...R-R-R-J-Joo...no! My name is Rose! My name is Rose! My name is...My name is...is..._

"My name is Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."


	5. Leaving It All Behind

**Chapter 5: Leaving It All Behind**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me**_

Several days had passed since Alice had been taken in by Uncle and Zuko, a fact that Zuko was not happy about and often made his feelings known. Alice had recovered "nicely" as Uncle put it, although it would take a while for the cut to heal fully. Uncle has also supplied her with second hand clothes that Zuko had grown out of, these were a slightly big and Alice's attempts at fixing them to fit her, without magic, ended in disaster somehow she managed to stitch her trousers to her shirt.

She had tried her best to keep her wand and any signs of her magic and elemental abilities hidden from Uncle and Zuko. However she did notice that Zuko seemed particularly secretive, when he wasn't complaining about her presence or arguing with Uncle about her presence.

"Textus Reparo!" Alice muttered trying to repair the large rip in her trousers. Uncle was down at the river getting water to make tea while Zuko had disappeared a few hours ago and she hadn't seen him since. She had deemed it safe to try and use her magic to repair her tattered and too big clothes. She pointed her wand at the large rip and tried once more.

"Textus Reparo!"

The rip slowly repaired itself as if invisible person was sewing it with an invisible needle and thread until the rip disappeared. Alice gave the material a sharp tug to check it had repaired properly, and to her delight it was fine.

"How did you do that!" Zuko's voice demanded making Alice jump and she quickly hid her wand behind her back. This was not good.

"What?" She asked looking up at him, feigning innocence "what did I do?"

"Don't. I saw you." Zuko said his good eye narrowing dangerously. Alice's blood froze, he had seen her repair her trousers magically. She internally berated herself but before she could say anything Uncle returned.

"Uncle." Zuko said "We need to talk."

"Of course nephew." Uncle smiled.

"In private." Zuko added with a pointed glance at Alice. Uncle followed Zuko's gaze to Alice then looked back at Zuko. Then Zuko and Uncle quickly left the cave and Alice was left alone. She was curious as to what Zuko wanted to speak to Uncle about although she probably could guess. She scooted closer to the cave entrance until she could clearly hear their hushed voices.

"…I saw her Uncle! I'm not imagining!" Zuko hissed indignantly.

"Nephew," Uncle's voice was grave "I'm sure that you are just tired. Alice is not a witch."

"I never said she was." Zuko's voice was suspicious. Alice's heart threw itself against her ribcage, Uncle knew the truth! How on earth did he figure it out if she had been extra careful to hide her magic? The sound of her heartbeat and her breathing suddenly sounded deafening, she was sure that Uncle and Zuko would hear her.

"Zuko. There are many things I have not told you." Uncle replied "But one thing that I am absolutely certain of is that Alice is not a threat to us."

"How would you know!" Zuko demanded "She could be a spy for the Earth Kingdom!"

"Alice is not from the Earth Kingdom." Uncle said calmly.

"What do you mean she's not from the Earth Kingdom! She has to be!"

Alice was beginning to panic. Uncle knew that she was a witch; he knew she wasn't from the Earth Kingdom. What else about her had he figured out? Did he know she was an elemental witch? Did he know how to get back to Hogwarts?

"She is not from the Earth Kingdom, Nephew. She is our ally not our enemy."

Zuko muttered something unintelligible and Alice shifted away from the cave entrance again. Uncle came back inside a few minutes later and smiled at her. Zuko did not follow.

"Where's Zuko?" Alice asked after a few minutes.

"He has gone to find us some food." Uncle replied sitting beside her. There was a pregnant pause as Alice struggled with how exactly to word her net question.

"How did you-" Alice stopped herself from asking the question, realizing it would imply she had been listening.

"How did I know you are a witch?" Uncle finished her question for her. Alice ducked her head, ashamed at being caught. Yet Uncle didn't seem angry.

"I shouldn't have been listening." Alice said softly "It was a private conversation. It wasn't my place."

"Curiosity is not a crime." Uncle replied.

Alice shrugged at this and drew her knees up to her chest "You knew. You knew all this time? When did you figure it out?"

"Yes, I knew from the beginning." Uncle said with a nod.

"How?" Alice asked. She had been careful. Incredibly careful to hide any signs of her magic and her elemental abilities. She didn't know which would land her in hotter water.

Uncle was about to reply but at that moment Zuko entered the cave and dropped some baskets filled with food in front of Uncle.

"Where did you get these?" he asked.

"What does it matter where they came from?" Zuko snapped. Alice rolled her eyes; she was used to this from Zuko after all most of it had been directed at her. Alice scowled after Zuko as he left the cave. Why did he have to be such a stuck-up selfish idiot?

It was a lot later when Zuko finally returned to the cave. Uncle wasn't there, apparently he had something urgent that needed doing, Alice had offered to help but he had told her that she should stay at the cave in case Zuko came back.

"Been out shopping then?" Alice asked as Zuko dropped several crates on the ground.

"What does it matter to you?" he growled.

"For one I know you probably couldn't afford half the stuff in that crate." She replied "Uncle's not going to be pleased."

Zuko glared at her and she glared back. He didn't like her, and she didn't like him either.

"Witch." He spat

"Firebender." Alice spat back. She had learnt that in the Earth Kingdom, that was one of the worst insults you could throw at someone. Zuko certainly looked offended, he looked like he wanted to murder her, and still he seemed to restrain himself. Instead he muttered several choice swears under his breath, all directed at her before he started taking the contents out of the crates.

Thankfully it wasn't long before Uncle himself arrived back, with the look Zuko threw her it was clear she was 'lucky' this time.

"It looks like you did some serious shopping." Uncle commented picking up the golden tea pot "But where did you get the money?"

Alice bit back the response she had; she didn't want to start a fight in front of Uncle. Deciding it was best to leave Uncle and Zuko alone, she made an excuse that she was going to feed Sascha, the Ostrich-horse.

"Do you like your new tea pot?" Zuko asked, clearly avoiding Uncle's question.

"To be honest with you, the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin mug." Uncle replied, walking over to where Zuko lay against the cave wall "I know we've had some difficult times lately. We've had to struggle just to get by, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honour in poverty."

"There is no honour for me without the Avatar."

"Zuko." Uncle sighed "Even if you did capture the Avatar, I'm not sure it would solve our problems. Not now."

"Then there is no hope at all." Zuko snapped getting up and storming out of the cave. Alice, who was holding Sascha's reins, turned to look with confusion. What was the matter now?

"No Zuko! You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength." Uncle said quickly. Zuko looked back at Uncle before disappearing off into the forest. Alice bit her lip and walked over to Uncle.

"He'll come round." She assured him "He's probably just confused."

Uncle looked at Alice with an unreadable expression before walking back inside the cave. Alice watched him walk away and turned to Sascha

"I suppose you have some emotional baggage too then?"

The only response she got was a loud squawk.

A few hours later, Zuko finally returned. Alice looked up and spotted him coming, she didn't know why but she could tell this wasn't going to be good.

"Uncle," Zuko said "I thought a lot about what you said."

"You did good, good." Uncle replied. Alice took a deep drink of the herbal tea that Uncle had made her so she wouldn't be tempted to respond.

"It's helped me realize something. We no longer have anything to gain by travelling together. I need to find my own way." This made Alice gag on her tea and begin to cough violently. Uncle's shoulders slumped in sadness. Zuko picked up his pack and began to walk away but Uncle got to his feet and raced after him, Alice following closely behind.

"Wait!" Uncle called. He handed Zuko Sascha's reins, Zuko looked at the reins then back to Uncle. Alice was vaguely reminded of the way that she and Keith could sometimes communicate only by looks.

Before Uncle allowed Zuko to leave he turned to Alice and in a quiet voice, so Zuko wouldn't hear, said

"Take care of him."

Alice at first was aghast, was Uncle seriously asking her to go with Zuko? Surely he knew that they didn't like each other. But Alice knew Uncle wouldn't ask unless he was worried about Zuko, so she nodded and went back to the cave to collect her own possessions.

Unfortunately Zuko had managed to leave without her. She quickly took the pack Uncle had handed her and with a quick 'thank you', raced off in the direction Uncle indicated.

It didn't take her long to spot Zuko.

"Wait! Zuko! Wait up!" she yelled after him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zuko growled, slowing Sascha down so Alice could catch up.

"Going with you. What does it look like?" Alice asked her hands flying to her hips.

"No, you're not."

"I think you'll find. I am."

"No way."

"Yes way. Now will you _please_ let me up on Sascha? I'm not planning on walking here."

**Next Chapter: Albus, Scorpius and Keith finally arrive in the Avatar universe. **

**Sorry for the long wait everyone, this bugger refused to be written.**


	6. The Chase

**Chapter 6: The Chase**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me**_

"Well that was a brilliant idea Keith." Scorpius said sarcastically picking himself off the ground "'let's all run at the painting, nothing bad could possibly happen!' Really ingenious Keith."

"Oh, like your idea was better!" Keith grumbled as he rubbed his now aching back.

"I really don't think this is the time or place guys." Albus said cutting off Scorpius as he was about to reply to Keith "Let's just focus on finding the girls."

Keith grumbled something inaudible while Scorpius nodded at Albus's words. This was not the time to be squabbling. They had to find Rose, Shauna and Alice…after all who knows what could have happened to them.

They were standing in a wood, sunlight streaming through the canopy above them. They had absolutely no clue where they were and no clue where to go. It was completely silent but they could make out the faint sound of a river somewhere in front of them.

"So what now oh fearless leader?" Keith asked Albus as he glanced around.

"What?" Albus asked his head snapping around to look at Keith.

"What What?" Keith repeated.

"Keith's just made you the leader Al." Scorpius shrugged.

"And just why am I the leader again?"

"Easy." Keith said "You're always the one making the decisions and everyone listens to you…that and if Scorpius was in charge it would go to his head."

"Oi! Your one to talk you-"

"Guys this isn't the time to-"

Albus made to stop the impending argument, but was cut off as a dagger zoomed by his head and embedded itself into the tree in front of him. Albus spun around and fumbled for his wand. It wasn't in his pocket…or his other pocket. Albus's green eyes widened.

"I can't find my wand!" Albus said panicking slightly. Scorpius and Keith promptly shoved their hands into their pockets and their eyes widened too.

None of them had wands. This wasn't good.

There was a shout and Albus didn't waste a moment before charging through the forest with Scorpius and Keith behind him.

"Albus wait!" Scorpius yelled "You don't know what you're getting into! Albus! Stop! Wait! Albus!"

Albus ignored Scorpius' shouts for him to stop as he arrived at a clearing just in time to see a pale girl with black hair pull something from the long sleeve of the robe she was wearing. It glinted in the sunlight and he saw it was a dagger and she was going to throw it at another tan-skinned girl with dark chocolate hair in a long braid down her back and wearing a blue and white tunic.

Without thinking, without even pausing to consider the consequences, he did the only thing he could have done; he sent a small blast of fire which knocked the dagger off course and into the nearby river.

Then before Albus could react daggers were flying at him whilst the girl, who he had just saved from getting impaled, was staring at him open-mouthed.

Before the daggers could make contact something slammed into Albus's back causing him to fall forward and the dagger to zoom over his head and be impaled in another tree. Scorpius and Keith had failed to stop in time and slammed into Albus's back.

"Get off!" Albus groaned as he struggled to escape from beneath Scorpius and Keith who were piled on top of him. They struggled to untangle their limbs for each other and the girl with the long sleeves seemed to turn her attention back to the girl in blue.

The girl in blue raised her arms and to their amazement a wave of water began to form but the sleeves of her tunic were quickly pinned to the tree behind her by daggers. A boy with tan skin, also wearing blue, hopped on one leg toward the girl but collapsed, rear end in the air, between her and the girl with the daggers.

"How ya doing?" the boy asked the girl in blue.

"Well, you know!" she replied sounding frantic.

Another girl, dressed in pink, walked leisurely to the dagger girl's side and then the dagger girl said in a bored tone.

"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys" At this her shoulders slumped somewhat "it would be more exciting. Oh well, victory is boring."

Albus, Scorpius and Keith managed to disentangle themselves just as a huge animal with six legs, two large horns on its head, long white fur and a brown arrow shaped pattern on its forehead, slammed its large beaver-like tail causing a strong blast of air which sent the dagger girl and the girl in pink hurtling into the nearby river. The animal quickly turned towards Albus, Keith and Scorpius with a loud rumbling growl.

"Uh…nice…cow...beast…thing." Keith gulped. The large creature approached growling at them.

"Appa!" the girl in blue called and the creature turned its shaggy head to look at her as the boy in blue pulled the daggers from the tree, releasing her. The girl then rushed over and led the creature, Appa, away from Albus, Keith and Scorpius.

"Nice job Appa." She said stroking his huge shaggy head.

"Oh, don't bother with us." Keith said sarcastically "It's not like your pet was going to kill us just there."

"He's a herbivore." The girl stated sounding somewhat annoyed.

"Katara, there's no time! We have to find Aang!" the boy in blue said urgently.

"But what about them?" Katara asked motioning to Albus, Scorpius and Keith, who gave them a small wave.

"Just c'mon!" the boy said climbing onto Appa's back. Katara climbed onto Appa's head and took the reins, looking down at Albus, Keith and Scorpius she looked torn. Finally she motioned for them to get on Appa too.

Scorpius was the first to move, agilely climbing onto Appa's saddle; he was quickly followed by Albus and finally Keith who looked slightly reluctant.

"Is this thing safe?" he asked the boy in blue, when he had finally managed to climb into the saddle, himself.

"Appa, yip yip!" Katara said and then, to Albus and Scorpius' amazement and Keith's terror, Appa soared to the sky.

"GAAH!" Keith yelled in fright, clinging to the edge of the saddle, for dear life as Appa jolted forward "Let me off!"

"Where?" Scorpius asked with a raised eyebrow "Your mid-air and there's a fifty foot drop below you."

"I don't care!" Keith yelled over the wind as Appa continued to climb. Albus patted Keith's shoulder hoping to calm him somewhat; Keith had never really liked flying on anything that wasn't a broom or an airplane.

"Your friend's weird." The boy noted to Scorpius who nodded,

"You've no idea." He replied.

"I'm Sokka." He introduced himself.

"I'm Scorpius and that's Albus and Keith." Scorpius said motioning to himself, then Albus and Keith in turn.

"There!" Katara exclaimed from Appa's head.

Sokka, Scorpius and Albus all scrambled for a better look at what Katara had seen. There was a town nearby, abandoned by the look of it, some of the wooden buildings were on fire. Occasionally there was a flash of orange or blue. Then on of the buildings collapsed in on itself and Katara pulled Appa into a sharp dive, causing Sokka, Scorpius and Albus to be thrown back in the saddle and earning a terrified yell from Keith as he struggled to cling to the saddle.

Appa landed with a loud rumbling groan, Katara grabbed something quickly from one of the bags in the saddle and then she charged into the abandoned town.

Sokka, Scorpius and Albus all quickly jumped from the saddle, it took Albus a minute to notice Keith wasn't following them; instead he had jumped of Appa and was emptying the contents of his stomach behind a nearby building.

"Go on without me!" Keith yelled when he had finished "I'm not feeling that great! I'll be with the fluff monster if you need me."

Albus stood for a minute then turn and ran into the town and almost immediately was nearly hit by a blast of blue fire. He leapt out of the way, narrowly missing getting his face burnt off; his own orange flames blossomed from his hand as he punched them at the girl who had shot the blue flames.

She easily countered his attack whilst dodging the attacks of everyone else.

Albus noticed that there were two other boys fighting her, a boy that looked only slightly younger than Lily…maybe twelve or thirteen and a boy around his own age with a horrible scar across the left side of his face. Then Albus's heart stopped when he saw Alice fighting beside the scarred boy. She was completely focused on the girl with the blue flames; she didn't even notice his or Scorpius' presence.

Another blast of blue fire almost caught him when he was distracted by Alice, but before the flames could hit him; a force field erupted in front of him. The flames dissipated when they came into contact with it and Albus's eyes once more went to Alice, who had her hand outstretched, keeping the protective force field up.

The girl shot blue flames at Scorpius, who quickly produced a shield of air to protect himself. The girl's eyes widened but almost instantly her eyes narrowed again but the seconds hesitation caused her to be slammed to the ground by an unseen force.

"I thought you guys could use a little help." A girl with black hair tied in a bun with long bangs covering her eyes was standing behind the girl with blue flames.

"Thanks." Katara smiled

The girl was on her feet again and Albus punched more flames at the girl but she managed to trade blows with each of them as she ran into an alley. Everyone raced after her each throwing their own attack at her. Suddenly she slammed into a portly man and was thrown to the ground.

They all closed in on her, her golden eyes swept over them all as they all prepared to strike if she made a move to do the same. After a few seconds she spoke

"Well look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done." With this she raised her arms skyward in a gesture of surrender "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."

No one moved, no one backed down. Albus felt an odd prickling sensation on the back of his neck…he didn't trust her. No one did. Before anyone could react, she struck, a blast of blue flame shot from her fingertips and hit the older man squarely in the chest. He spun and collapsed. The scarred boy yelled in despair and Alice stood beside him, her hazel eyes wide and an equal look of horror on her face.

Albus struck punching his fist forward, Katara sent a stream of water, the black haired girl slammed her foot into the earth while the bald boy and Scorpius she streams of air at the girl. She produced a shield of blue flames. They all covered their eyes as a huge explosion caused debris to rain down upon them and when the smoke cleared the girl had vanished.

Albus turned around and saw the scarred boy and Alice at the older ma's side. He was lying where he had fell and wasn't moving. Albus could see that Alice had tears in her eyes and was frantically trying to find a pulse. The scarred boy clenched his fists and made a sound somewhere between sadness and anger.

They all cautiously approached, Alice looked up at them and her eyes met Albus'

"Get away from us!" the scarred boy said angrily.

"Zuko, I can help." Katara offered taking a step forward, one hand over her heart and the other outstretched. The scarred boy, Zuko, seemed to freeze at her voice and Alice's eyes quickly darted to him with an almost quizzical expression.

"Leave!" Zuko roared turning and sending a blast of fire over their heads. Katara exchanged a look with the bald boy and then they turned and fled as the ghost town went up in flames behind them.

Albus stopped and glanced back at Alice, she was preoccupied with the older man and then she saw her stretch a hand over and place it on Zuko's shoulder. A creature in his chest roared to life and suddenly he wondered why she wasn't coming with them. Why was she staying?

"Albus!" Scorpius' voice jolted him back to the present, and with one last backward glance at Alice and Zuko, he ran towards Appa and in minutes they were soaring through the sky.

**Next Chapter: We find out what happened on Zuko and Alice's travels around the Earth Kingdom**


	7. In The Earth Kingdom

**Chapter 7: In The Earth Kingdom**

_**I'm NOT JK Rowling, Mike or Brian and I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar anything you don't recognise belongs to me**_

It was midnight, Alice couldn't sleep. Uncle was alive…just…she and Zuko had managed to move him into another building where they had tried all they could to help him. Alice had tried numbing his nerves, so at least he wasn't in pain, and frantically tried to prompt the ruined cells to regenerate with small jolts of electricity, whilst Zuko had bandaged Uncle's chest, made some horrible tasting tea and then they both waited…and waited…and waited. He stayed unconscious for the rest of the day.

Crickets' chirrups echoed through the silent building, it wasn't the noise that kept Alice awake, it was the uncertainty. She didn't know if she had managed to do anything to help Uncle and Zuko was either too angry at himself or too worried about Uncle because he hadn't said a word to her, not even a sarcastic comment, since they had moved Uncle into the little shack. He was sitting at Uncle's side, they had silently decided to take turns watching over him that night, just in case he woke or needed some extra medical attention.

Alice rolled onto her other side, hoping that a more comfortable position would prompt sleep to come. She heard the creak of floor boards behind her and then something dropped on top of her. Her hazel eyes opened slightly and saw that Zuko had placed his own blanket over her, possibly thinking she might have been cold. She smiled and closed her eyes once more as sleep finally took her.

Two weeks since they had left Uncle, two long, exhausting, argumentative weeks. She and Zuko had moved from place to place, never staying any longer than a week, slowly they were making their way around the Earth Kingdom on Sascha the Ostrich Horse.

The sun beat down on them both mercilessly as they rode through, what seemed like, endless fields of withering yellow grass and dead trees. Alice had never felt more dejected in her life. Their supplies were running dangerously thin and the small amount of Earth Kingdom money Uncle had given them was also getting smaller and smaller.

Alice was never the one to condone thievery, but she couldn't help but be slightly thankful, when Zuko returned sometimes with pilfered food, water skins and very occasionally a small amount of money. Life as a nomad, Alice had decided, was not all it was cracked up to be.

Zuko had trouble staying awake as they rode on, his eyes kept drifting shut only for him to fight back the sleep and jerk awake, which also kept Alice from falling asleep. They needed supplies…soon.

Zuko pulled Sascha's reins and Alice peered around him curiously. She saw a small village ahead, it didn't look like much, just some wooden buildings congregated together around an outpost of some kind.

"Finally." She breathed.

Zuko said nothing. With a small click of his tongue Sascha began to walk again and Alice's hopes were momentarily raised.

The town reminded Alice of old western movies, everything was quiet and they got strange looks as they rode through it, she half expected a gunfight to break out in the street. They past some Earth Kingdom soldiers playing dice and when they past the leader, at least Alice assumed he was the leader, gave them a glare. Without really thinking, Alice tightened her grip around Zuko's waist as they rode past and stopped at a stall.

Zuko dismounted and Alice followed soon after, tying Sascha's reins to a nearby post, while Zuko walked to the counter and offered the man behind it the last of the money they had.

"Could I get a bag of feed, some water and two hot meals to eat?" he asked.

The man examined the coins in Zuko's hand and said sadly.

"Not enough for the hot meals…I can get you two bags of feed."

Alice saw Zuko lower his head slightly, she knew him enough now to know that that meant he was in despair. Alice could feel the soldiers' gazes on them but when she turned to look at them they had went back to their game. She heard laughter and saw two children peeking from the corner of the stall, one handed the other an egg, Alice's eyes widened when she realized what they were about to do and watched in horror as the egg flew, in a graceful arc, and landed on a soldier's head.

They whirled in fury but the two children had fled, their eyes honed in on her and Zuko.

"Hey!" the leader growled marching up to Zuko "You throwing eggs at us stranger?"

"No." Zuko replied calmly, not turning to look at him, whilst Alice bit her lip.

"You, or your pretty girlfriend, see who did throw it?" Alice bit back a retort of 'he's not my boyfriend' at this question. Her hazel eyes focusing on Zuko as he turned to face the soldiers, hand on the hilts of his swords, and glared at the man. Alice reached inside her tunic's pocket for her wand but Zuko gave her a small look which told her not to, and for once, she decided that he was probably right.

"No." Zuko repeated.

"That's your favourite word? No?" One of the soldier's mocked.

"Egg had to come from somewhere." The leader continued as if the other soldier hadn't interrupted.

"Maybe a chicken flew over." Alice, and another soldier, giggled at Zuko's words earning a fierce glare from the leader. The man behind the counter arrived back with the two bags of feed, as Zuko went to pick them up, the leader swooped in and grabbed them both before tossing them to a soldier.

"Thank you for you contribution. The army appreciates your support. You, and your girlfriend, had better leave town stranger. Penalty for staying is a lot steeper than you can afford." He tapped a huge war hammer that was hanging from his belt "Trust me."

"Hey!" Alice growled marching up to him before Zuko could stop her "You can't do that!"

"Can't I?" The leader grabbed her arm, as if to shove her to the ground. Alice sent a current up her arm and through the leader, who gasped in pain, face contorting, as she increased the voltage flowing through her body. The leader dropped to his knees, as she kept increasing the voltage and his grip slackened allowing Alice to pull her arm from his grip. Zuko watched her with an expression somewhere between shocked and smug.

The leader got to his feet, his eyes narrowing, but instead of retaliating he stalked away with the soldiers following him with occasional backwards glances.

"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation," The man behind the counter said "but they're just a bunch of thugs."

Alice nodded her head in agreement whilst Zuko said nothing; he walked over to Sascha and untied her reins. One of the children, a young bright-eyed boy, appeared on Sascha's other side just as he was going to mount her.

"Thanks for not ratting me out." He said.

Zuko mounted once more, and offered a hand to Alice to help her up, before he clicked his tongue and Sascha started to walk. Suddenly the boy grabbed Sascha's bridle and began to lead her

"I'll take you two to my house and feed your Ostrich Horse. C'mon, I owe you." He said brightly. Zuko made no move to stop him, instead he clutched his rumbling stomach and the sound of it made Alice's stomach growl in response.

It only took them a few minutes to arrive at the farm. Zuko and Alice dismounted as they walked up a narrow path as a variety of animals, which looked like pigs crossed with cows and sheep, 'oinked' noisily at them.

"No one can ever sneak up on us." The boy said proudly as they walked.

"No kidding." Zuko replied and Alice gave him a raised eyebrow, he never acted that nice around her when they had first met.

The boy let Sascha into a barn, which looked like the roof was still being built, and returned with an older man who Alice assumed was his father.

"You two friends of Lee's?" he asked

"These two stood up to the soldiers!" Lee told him excitedly "By the end they had them practically running away!"

A woman appeared and gave them both a warm smile

"Do these people have names?" she asked in a friendly manner.

"I'm-" Alice began but the older man cut her off.

"They don't have to say who they are if they don't want to, Sela. Anyone who can stand up to those bully soldiers is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms." The man said sounding somewhat bitter.

"The real soldiers are off fighting the war, like Lee's big brother Sen Su. Supper's nearly ready…would you both like to stay?" Sela asked kindly.

Alice looked at Zuko who said

"We can't. We should be moving on."

"Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don't you work for a while and then we'll eat." Sela suggested. Before Zuko could protest Alice quickly said.

"Would you like some help with the cooking?"

Sela nodded and Alice followed her to the house, not before shooting Zuko and imploring look as he scowled back at her.

The rest of the days was spent doing menial chores around the farm to help pay back Gansu and Sela for being so kind to them. Zuko seemed to be in a world of his own, every time Alice looked, he had a vague expression on his face, sometimes had to jab him in the ribs when she was talking to him.

Finally the sun set and the full moon rose above the small farm. There was no room in the house for them both, so Alice and Zuko had to make do with the soft hay in the barn. Alice wasn't complaining, she had slept much rougher when she and Zuko were travelling, once they had to camp out on a steep ridge on a mountain, to escape some people who had caught Zuko whilst pilfering some supplies, and if they turned over in their sleep they would have had a long drop and a sudden stop.

The rustling of hay woke Alice from her sleep; she spied Zuko leaving the barn and sat up rubbing her eyes. Where was he going? Slipping from her make-shift bed she followed Zuko, careful to avoid making too much noise, although stubbing her toe on a rock didn't help that much.

She hid in the shadows as she watched Lee with Zuko's broadswords, she expected Zuko to blow up, and she knew from experience that you only touched his swords if you had a death wish. Zuko began speaking but Alice couldn't hear what he was saying so she risked creeping closer.

"…Don't think of them as separate because they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole."

A smile spread across Alice's face as she saw Lee take the swords and begin to practise with them. It was a whole new side to Zuko that she rarely ever saw…it was good. Her Ravenclaw curiosity satisfied, she snuck quietly back to the barn and lay down on the soft hay once more.

Zuko woke her early the next morning, he didn't mention anything about the previous night so neither did she, a silent agreement they had made. One never asked the other something unless they explicably mentioned it or wanted to give the information. It also made finding anything out about Zuko incredibly difficult, like where he and Uncle were from or why he never mentioned his parents or, what Alice was most curious about, how he got that scar.

They packed their possessions once more, intending to set out again as soon as they could. Alice watched Zuko carefully out of the corner of her eye, expecting to see more unusual behaviour from him, but there wasn't. Same cranky Zuko as always.

They mounted Sascha again. Alice wrapped her arms around Zuko's waist, something she'd quickly become accustomed too on their travels, as he prepared for as speedy exit when Sela, Gansu and Lee all exited the house. Sela walked up to them and handed Zuko a small package.

"Here." she said "This ought to get you through a few meals."

Zuko gave a small nod and placed the package in one of the saddle bags when there was a sound in the distance. Alice turned her head and saw the soldiers from the previous day riding towards them on their Ostrich Horses.

"What do you think they want?" Gansu asked.

"Trouble." Replied Zuko.

Just thought someone ought to tell you, your son's battalion got captured." At this new Gansu's expression turned from suspicion to horror and tears began to well in Sela's eyes, Gow however continued, enjoying the reactions of his audience "You boy's hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"

"Dressed them up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them on the frontline unarmed, they way I heard it." He spat on the ground "Then they just watched."

Bile rose in Alice's throat and her grip tightened around Zuko's waist until he gave a barely audible 'oof'.

"You watch your mouth!" Gansu thundered.

Gow rode forward but Zuko quickly intervened by walking Sascha forward so she blocked him. Gow narrowed his eyes and Zuko did the same. A long moment of absolute silence as Zuko and Gow glared at each other, Alice's eyes darted from Zuko to Gow and back again, half expecting one of them to be reduced to ashes, from the intensity of each other's gazes. Finally Gow broke and looked at his men

"Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs?"

They turned their Ostrich Horses and were gone as abruptly as they had come. Gansu wrapped an arm around Sela and Alice couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Zuko seemed to be lost in another daydream but promptly snapped out of it when Lee tentatively asked:

"What's going to happen to my brother?"

"I'm going to the front." Gansu declared looking at Sela "I'm going to find Sen Su and bring him back."

Gansu and Sela then quickly returned to the house while Lee ran up to Sascha, with tears in his eyes

"When my dad goes…will you stay?" he asked, the question directed more at Zuko than Alice. Alice looked at Zuko waiting for his response which was a decisive

"No." Then Zuko reached into the saddle bag and pulled out a sheathed dagger before handing it to Lee "Here. I want you to have this. Read the inscription."

Lee gave Zuko a quizzical look before he unsheathed the blade and read out:

"Made in Earth Kingdom."

"The other one." Zuko said.

Lee flipped the blade and read "Never give up without a fight."

With that, Zuko turned Sascha and she began to gallop towards the west. Alice rested her head against Zuko's back, an unreadable expression on her face. She couldn't help but wonder what would become of the family…they'd been so kind…she hoped that they would be ok.

Zuko seemed to be in another world, something Alice noticed was becoming quite frequent over the last few days. After about an hour or so of riding, Zuko stopped Sascha near a grassy bank with a small stream and lay down on the grass. Alice dismounted after him and led Sascha towards the stream so she could drink.

Zuko began to mutter something under his breath, Alice took no notice, he sometimes did that and she had learnt to ignore him when he started. Then Alice suddenly jumped to attention, she could hear something approaching…a group of Ostrich horses?

A wagon stopped and Sascha gave a loud squawk, seated in the drivers' seat was Sela.

"You have to help! It's Lee!" She sounded distraught and close to tears "The thugs from the town came back as soon as Gansu left. When they ordered us to give them some food, Lee pulled a knife on them. I don't even know where he got a knife! Then they took him away. They told me if he's old enough to fight, he's old enough to join the army! I know we barely know you both but-"

"I'll get your son back." Zuko said, cutting off Sela, as he sprung to his feet. Before Alice could say or do anything, Zuko had grabbed Sascha and was galloping back down the road leaving Sela and herself standing staring after him.

"We have to get back to town." Sela said urgently. Alice nodded and quickly scrambled into the seat beside her. They followed Zuko quickly down the dust path, Alice's heart was in her mouth and she had a feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. Alice bit her lip, she was worried for Zuko in case he got himself killed by the soldiers. She was unwilling to admit that Zuko had grown on her.

Soon enough the village began to loom in front of them and the sound of fighting could be heard. She and Sela quickly slipped into the crowd who were watching as Zuko faced off against all the soldiers and, to Alice's amazement and awe, was beating all of them. Sela had her mouth covered with her hand while she watched and Alice couldn't blame her, she was worried too, about her son more than Zuko.

"Give 'em a left! A left!" an old man yelled from somewhere close by.

"It's not a fist fight!" a woman beside him, remarked.

"He's got a left sword, don't he?"

Alice would have laughed at the exchange if she hadn't been so worried about Zuko at that moment. Zuko easily defeated the last soldier as if it were mere child's play. Lee, who was tied to a post on the massive outpost, laughed with delight. The rest of the crowd were in awe as was Alice and Sela.

Then Gow stepped forward with his war hammers and Alice gave a small prayer as Zuko barred his broadswords. For a moment, both combatants stayed where they were, Alice's hazel eyes darted from Zuko to Gow and back again. Gow made the first move, he slammed one hammer to the ground and a rock was raised from the ground and he smacked it toward Zuko with his other hammer. Alice's fear rose, he was an earthbender, Zuko was a non-bender…this wasn't going to end well.

Zuko shattered the rock with his blades but Gow repeated the move rapidly and repeatedly. Zuko parried, blocking or shattering the rocks but one hit Zuko's ribs, on his left side, and Alice could swear she heard a crack. Zuko doubled over and stumbled back a few paces, his face contorted with pain. Alice made to move but Sela grabbed her arm, preventing her from going to Zuko's aid. He didn't need it anyway because he straightened up and barred his twin swords once more.

Gow slowly drove Zuko back. Alice noticed that Zuko was getting hit back rocks more often and was favouring his right side more than what he had been. Gow slammed his hammers into the ground and Alice could feel the shockwave through her boots. A huge rock erupted from the ground and struck Zuko in the chest, he was thrown back several feet and lay still in the dust.

"NO!" It surprised Alice, herself that the scream had come from her.

Before Sela could stop her, Alice had rushed out of the crowd, she slid to a stop on her knees beside Zuko's still form. She quickly pressed to fingers to his exposed neck.

_Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead!_ She begged in her mind.

He wasn't dead. Alice could feel the pulse on his neck and it took all her strength to stop herself crying from relief. Gow approached with a triumphant sneer on his face and Alice threw her arm over Zuko's unconscious form.

"Come any closer and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Gow mocked.

Electricity pulsed through Alice, she wanted to wipe that smirk from Gow's face. Permanently. Sparks crackled around her clenched fists. She could feel the energy pulsing through her, just waiting to be released. Alice pushed herself to her feet and Gow seemed surprised that she had risen to his challenge.

"This." Alice growled.

Pushing her palm forward she released the energy in the form of a force field. Stepping forward she pushed and the force field rushed forward, knocking Gow off his feet and sending him hurtling through the air and landing in a crumpled heap several yards away.

The crowds' murmurs were like buzzing flies in her ears as Gow pushed himself to his feet.

"W-What are you?" he asked clutching his injured side.

"I'm your worst nightmare. I am Alice Amata Downes and I'm an elemental witch!"

Gow's eyes widened to an almost comical size and there were shocked gasps from the crowd. Alice eased herself into the familiar battle stance, waiting for Gow's next attack.

"Get him!" Lee yelled from the post and Alice didn't need any more invitation. Gow seemed to barely prepare himself but before Alice could strike there was a yell of intense fury and Alice barely moved out of the way in time to avoid a burst of flames which hit Gow squarely in the stomach and knocked him even further back and into a building.

Alice turned and saw a sight that frightened her. Zuko was surrounded by a ring of flame, swords in his hands, looking furious beyond words. He rushed forwards, using his swords to send bolts of flame at Gow.

It was over in seconds.

"Who are you?" Gow wheezed as he struggled into a sitting position as Alice and Zuko approached.

"My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne!"

"Liar!" the man from the crowd yelled "I heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!"

Alice's eyes flew to Zuko at these new revelations. He had never told her anything and now that she knew who he was…she didn't know what to think. It had been a shock to find out he was a firebender, let alone the Prince of the Fire Nation!

Zuko seemed unaffected by the insult and picked up the dagger that had fallen to the ground and approached Lee, who was being untied by Sela.

"Not a step closer!" Sela warned placing herself in front of her son. Her eyes softened somewhat when she looked at Alice. Zuko knelt down and offered the dagger to Lee.

"It's yours. You should have it."

"No!" Lee snapped "I hate you!"

Zuko rose and Alice felt like yelling out about the injustice of it all. Zuko had helped them! He had put himself in danger to save them! Yet, as soon as they found out he was Fire Nation, they turned on him.

Zuko mounted Sascha and offered Alice a hand without a word. She pulled herself into the saddle, hot tears welling in her eyes as they rode out of the town and into the setting sun.

Alice awoke with a start. Zuko had a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him bleary-eyed. She rubbed her eyes trying to erase the memory of the town from her mind.

"You were muttering in your sleep." He said.

"Sorry." She said before forcing herself to rise "You should sleep. It's my turn to watch Uncle."

Zuko didn't say anything but Alice forced him to lay down under the blankets and took the seat beside Uncle's unconscious form. She turned her head to look out the window at the starry night sky and couldn't help wonder what had happened to Lee and his family.

**Next Chapter: Albus, Keith and Scorpius try to fit in with the Gaang and Uncle teaches Zuko and Alice**


End file.
